Baltimore working to clear vacant houses

City strategically tearing down vacant properties

Vacant homes can be a haven for crime, not to mention what they do to property values. Philadelphia, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit and Baltimore are just some of the cities wracked by blight so bad, it's like a flesh-eating wound that continues to grow. In these cities, getting rid of the abandoned housing stock is a hard job to tackle.

Vacant homes can be a haven for crime, not to mention what they do to property values.

Philadelphia, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit and Baltimore are just some of the cities wracked by blight so bad, it's like a flesh-eating wound that continues to grow. In these cities, getting rid of the abandoned housing stock is a hard job to tackle.

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Nakeya Scott lives in the 900 block of Stricker Street in west Baltimore, where most of the houses are vacant.

"When I come home, I have to walk in the middle of the street because rats come from holes or bushes," Scott said.

The vacant properties are also a haven for crime. Scott said living in this environment takes a toll psychologically. She keeps her kids close and locked inside.

"Kids want to see positivity. If you grow up in a negative space, that's what you are going to think, negative stuff," Scott said.

Baltimore has 17,000 vacant buildings.

"In Baltimore City, we're talking about the subset of unoccupied buildings that are both vacant and unfit for human habitation, or otherwise unsafe," Deputy Housing Commissioner Michael Braverman said.

Unoccupied buildings are boarded up all over the city. Braverman said the city got this way because of a huge population loss over the last 50 years.

"Baltimore was built out for close to a million people at its peak. We're at 620,000 now. We're down more than 350,000 people," Braverman said.

The loss of manufacturing jobs at plants like Bethlehem Steel and General Motors helped get the city to this point. Braverman said there are vast areas of the city where there is no viable demand for housing.

It's estimated the demolition needed to eliminate blight costs upwards of $500 million, so the city has to take buildings down strategically.

"The first rule of thumb is ensure that any buildings in eminent danger are addressed," Braverman said.

The city is also doing demolition in neighborhoods that can bring reinvestment, like areas near the Johns Hopkins Hospital, a huge employer in the city.

"On the east side, for instance, on the 1500 block of Broadway, we can do demolition on an alley street beside that, the 1500 block of Register, to leverage investment on the 1500 block of Broadway," Braverman said.

Another strategy is what happened in the 1000 block of Stricker Street, where a whole block was taken down in Theo Price's backyard.

"I didn't really want to have anybody over to the house, where we would be out back, and that's what they had to look at," Price said.

It was a life-changer for Price, and now he spends most of his time doing something he loves, grilling out.

"I dealt with abandoned houses being in the back of my house for 11 years," Price said. "It's less depressing, and every day, I spend more time out here."

"That blight elimination was strategic in that we were hoping that it would stabilize the home ownership community immediately adjacent," Braverman said.

Price's backyard has expanded because of the green space left after the demolition. There will be many lots opening up around the city as buildings come down. Braverman said the city is committed to policing them and keeping them clean.

Baltimore City owns 20 percent or less of the vacant buildings. Many of the owners have died, are in nursing homes, or their families have moved on.

Gov. Larry Hogan is giving $75 million over four years for demolition, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has dedicated another $10 million for demolition.